The Hunt

Sawadee, ka!. Just thought I'd fill you in with some of my past week.  I try to fill all of you in with the adventurous side, more than my studious side.  For a majority of the day time, I have been exploring Chiang Rai, job searching, and hunting new job options that relate to nutrition/health.  On Tuesday, I applied to a job in southern Thailand for a health/sport English educator.  I actually discovered this job on Craig's List.  Not only should you be careful using Craig's List in the US, but also overseas.  There are actually warnings on the site from people warning against individuals or agencies that are requesting that applicants send copies of their diplomas, passport IDs, etc.  I dove deeper than the ad before I even considered sending in my personal information.  I looked up the school.  Sure enough there were several job postings for the school on the school's homepage, with good ratings.  The school seemed to be what I am looking for.  Additionally, with benefits that I haven't seen in other schools. This caught me attention, I applied. 

I contacted the school by emailing them a cover letter detailing my job experiences and reasons for interest in the position.  In the email I also attached a copy of my passport and my resume, required for the application. Just to give you an idea of how this may differ from the US process of applying for jobs, in Asia you are to provide: age, date of birth, gender, marital status, and a current photo of yourself.  In my application to Nestle, I was asked to provide my religious affiliation.  As far as the job postings go you may see statements such as: must be 21 or older, 24 or older, under 40 years of age, 40 years or older (seldom..more for university specialty level), female only, bachelor's degree (nearly all), native English speaker (all), a native English speaker from US, Australia, South Africa, Britain, or New Zealand (often), BA major in English or linguistics (for upper-level English learners), any teaching experience 2+ years (occasionally), etc.  It certainly reminds me that I am not in America. 

After sending in my application, I received an email Wednesday.  The email stated that the job position, health/sports English educator was possibly filled but that there were openings in the Early Learner's program.  With that being said, the email stated that if I was still interested I should fill out and return a questionnaire, along with a lesson plan for 25, 5-6 year olds, teaching multiple disciplines in a 50 minute period. The theme in of the lesson, "our city," intentionally meant to be vague.  So not exactly what I thought I would be doing, but the age group in my opinion would be fun and challenging.  By the evening I sent a lesson plan, feeling confident that it would at least appease my favorite 6 years old! The questionnaire asked questions such as: What sports do you play? What would your classroom look and sound like? Would you feel comfortable in a Christian school? What makes this job position/location appealing to you? Can you teach 20, 2 year old students? The email also asked for a time that I could set up a Skype interview.

Thursday I had my Skype interview, as I sat on an outdoor patio.  I interviewed with a male, I believe he was European or American. He asked me several questions such as: Where have you been in Thailand? What makes you interested in this job/location? Can you drive a motorbike? What is your experience with teaching children? Do you have friends applying for this position? Would you be comfortable if parents came to watch you teach? Are you currently looking at other schools/job positions? What are your food allergies? ... Overall I felt good with all of my answers.  He told me that my resume looked professional and that he liked my responses in the questionnaire I sent him.

Additionally we has some good conversation.  He was detailing the local environment to which I would be working. He said that the areas in welcoming to individuals that can handle, fresh air, natural elements, caves, water, hiking, lack of urbanization, lack of grocery stores, no malls, no movie theaters, no tuk tuk services, and hot weather. In my mind as he is saying this I could feel myself getting really excited - even though I already researched the area and had a fair idea as to what I was getting myself into.  He saw that I went to SDSU and asked if I was native to SD.  He went on to tell me that he has two current teachers from SD working in the school.  That surprised me.  He said that they are both male, one is from the Badlands, a long-time teacher who is leaving the school to return to SD. This seemed so crazy to me.  Moving on, we went over specifics with the job, work visa questions, contracts, teaching periods, etc.  To conclude the interview I was told that I may Skype or call with any further questions, that the interview was a pleasure, and that I should be hearing from them by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. There may be another potential interview with the head director for the school. I will see what happens.

Overall, there are certainly many jobs available, new posts daily.  I would guess that about 80% of the jobs are for Bangkok.  Bangkok, I would like to see, but don't want it to be a destination.  In Thailand, school breaks typically occur in April and October.  With that being said some schools run 5-5.5 days a week.  Some have summer camps or go all year.  Most of the schools and universities restart in mid-late April or early May. 

As of today all three of my friends have jobs. They all want to stay in the Chiang Rai area.  Hannah and Mel both have jobs at a teaching young kids in a Montessori, they started teaching today. Susan got her job today teaching 7-12 year olds at a Catholic school and starts in 2 weeks during the summer camps.  Let's just see what happens next..